Unpredictable petroleum prices and the increasing desire for energy independence and security have led to burgeoning research activities directed toward developing a variety of alternative fuels. Among these new fuels, biodiesel (including Fatty Acid Methyl Esters; FAME) is a biodegradable, nontoxic diesel that can be produced from various oil feedstocks, including vegetable oils, animal fats, algal oils, and restaurant waste oils. Examples of biodiesel include soy diesel (methyl soyate), rapeseed methyl ester, and various vegetable and animal fat methyl esters. These fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) have been accepted worldwide as viable alternatives to traditional petroleum-derived solvents and fuels. Petroleum-derived solvents and fuels are of environmental concern and are under legislative pressure to be replaced by biodegradable substitutes that afford reduced environmental impact. Although interest in biodiesel is rapidly increasing, the general process by which it is synthesized has not changed in recent years.
Accordingly, there is a need for new methods for obtaining fuels and fuel precursors from readily available organic materials, including microorganisms. There is also a need for methods that can provide fuels and fuel precursors in an environmentally friendly manner, such as by methods that do not destroy the source from which the fuels and fuel precursors are obtained.